Stan, below is an area that we enjoy. Some of its attributes may not show up in one place on a web site. The flagship Juan Pollo restaurant in your city of San Bernardino is on our list of places to visit. As you know, the founder, Albert Okura, bought Amboy, California, on Route 66 and he is restoring the desert town. We also want to see the free, unofficial McDonalds museum that he built on the original site of the first McDonalds run by Dick and Mac McDonald. Ray Kroc later bought out Dick and Mac.
Vickie and I enjoy camping at Emma Wood California State Beach, which is not too far west of the Ventura River. Our favorite campsite, number 23, is away from the other campers and waves from the largest ocean in the world run up the rocks to within 30' of our door during high tide. The campsites are along a dead end section of the Old Pacific Coast Highway; not to be confused with the Rincon Parkway farther west where many recreational vehicles are camping end to end along a still in use, newer version of the road.
Like many of our coastal campgrounds, the 101 Freeway and Union Pacific Railroad tracks run near by. We enjoy the trains passing and open surf side windows to cover most of the traffic noise. Old Ventura is within walking distance. If the coast trail is taken, at lower tide, two Panama gun mounts can be seen in the surf just west of the mouth of Ventura River. They were built up on the low bluffs that existed during World War II. The River can usually be waded. Ventura State Beach (no camping) is east, just past the Ventura Pier. Near the State Beach parking lot is The Jolly Oyster where raw clams and oysters that were farmed in Mexico are sold. Charcoal and oyster shucking knives are also sold to facilitate cooking your meal on nearby grills. Some days The Jolly Oyster mobile kitchen is present to serve already cooked dishes.
The original 15' wide 1914 concrete coast road we use to get to camp was upgraded in 1927 with a 20' wide concrete overlay. The evidence is still there to experience; about one third of a mile of the 1927 concrete road is there to touch and see; not covered with later asphalt. The crew laying the concrete would date stamp the concrete where they started for the day, and stamp it again where they ended the day. The best example of this documentation is the inland side of the highway where the 10' wide strip was poured west to east as follows:
"AUG 26 1927", an expansion joint, then "AUG 27 1927", then
1405' of road ending with "AUG 27 1927" before an expansion joint. The next stamp right after the expansion joint is "AUG 28 1927"; the start of another day.
The ocean side 10' width part of the road was also poured west to east, but earlier, in the middle of August.
The highway was poured in two strips, in part, because one side
always needed to be open to traffic; about 5000 vehicles per day in 1927. The problem prone method of traffic control of handing a flag to the last vehicle of a group to be given to the flagman at the other end was used for a while. Later, the flagman rode in the "last vehicle" with his flag. Along with the date, the contractor's name is stamped in the concrete; "J. F. Knapp" of Stockton. I could find no relationship to our local G. O. Knapp of Knapp's Castle.
From the dates, looking at an August 1927 calendar, construction continued right
through the weekend.
The total length of this project was to 12.2 miles west of Ventura;
in 11 months. Related integrated sea walls were built by Otto Parlier of Tulare.
Other examples of the old concrete coast highway are visible in our local Buellton area. A prime one being the road from the top of the Nojoqui grade on its way down to Nojoqui Falls and Solvang. Here we see the old road in good condition, where the later added asphalt has sloughed off.
Chuck Sorensen
Buellton, California
2012 Excel TS
